Mercor is recruiting practicing electrical test automation engineers for a short-term project that turns real bench experience into training and evaluation material for AI models. The work is writing and reviewing automated test problems — instrument control, DAQ integration, HIL setups, failure root-cause reasoning — and judging whether model-generated answers would survive contact with an actual test rack.

Summary, eligibility guidance and screening preparation are prepared by Sidequest from the platform's posting. Check the source listing before applying.

What the work actually involves

You are not maintaining a production test bench here. You are producing and grading expert-level technical content: authoring realistic test-automation problems (SCPI command sequences, GPIB/Ethernet instrument discovery, DAQ channel configuration, TestStand sequence structure, HIL fault injection), writing reference solutions, and then evaluating model output against them. A typical task might be: given a schematic excerpt and a test spec, does the model's proposed measurement setup actually capture the parameter within stated tolerance — and if not, why not. You will also review other contributors' work, which means defending or overturning a technical call in writing.

The judgment being paid for is the kind that comes from having debugged a real setup. Models produce plausible test code that fails on timing, triggering, grounding, instrument state, or unit conversion. Catching that — and articulating the failure mode precisely rather than saying "looks wrong" — is the core skill.

What the screen looks for

Concrete hands-on history: which instruments, which buses, which frameworks, on what hardware.
Whether you can go three follow-ups deep on a specific setup you built without becoming vague.
Written precision. Rubric-style reasoning that another engineer could act on.
Domains that matter to the client: power electronics, batteries, EV drivetrains, motors, embedded, high-voltage or safety-critical systems.

Logistics

Remote and largely asynchronous, with task batches rather than fixed shifts. Short-term project scope — expect a defined engagement rather than an open-ended role, with hours negotiated per contributor (part-time alongside a day job is common). Observed pay for this band is $70–85/hr; actual rates depend on assessed depth and task type, and are not guaranteed. Expect a paid or unpaid sample task as part of onboarding.

Electrical Test Automation Engineer

What the work actually involves

What the screen looks for

Logistics

Interview prep — 10 questions